Rinec and the Shadow Girl
by WriterPhantom
Summary: A retelling of The Chronicles of Riddick, with new twists and changed names, all characters still recognizable. "Imam's" daughter is adopted, and not who she seems. What happens when Imam/Perel and his wife die, leaving Riddick/Rinec care of the girl?
1. Chapter 1

My first story ever on fanfiction! Hope ya like it, though there's still so much to work on. Rinec/Riddick isn't as tough as I'd like, because, honestly, I really find it hard to create truly 'un-caring' characters. It's hard for me to write really evilll/believable villains or anti-heroes. But I try. :)

Wish I could upload the sequels, but they're technically not fanfiction, so ... I can't. :/

Oh, yes ... a lot is different, some people don't appear and some scenes changed or whathaveyou, but, well, it's how I wrote it, unfortunately the characters wouldn't let me write it any other way. I'm also not entirely pleased with how stretched-out it seems but I don't know how to fix that. Anyhow, on with the story!

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"So you want me to get rid of more monsters, as you call them." The man's voice was hard, gruff.

"They are coming. We just don't know when they will get here." The other's voice was quieter, more pleasing to the ears though the urgency of his tone distracted from it. "You must help us!"

"I won't do it. Isn't my fight," the first man spoke again.

"But you must! If you do not-they could wipe out all of humanity! They'll destroy all that we love and hold dear. After us, they could go to another planet, and do the same thing all over again. You are the only one who can defeat them!' The man protested.

All of earth was at stake. People-if one could call them that-were coming to earth to plunder and kill, and force the few acceptable to be their soldiers. They weren't easy to kill, themselves. They felt no pain. They'd die if a sword or gun went through their heart, straight through their stomach, but if they did not feel it—they would be and were seemingly invincible. If one was lucky, they might get close enough to decapitate a Shadok or two, unfortunately it rarely happened.

The first man who spoke was the sort of man who had been bred tough—a Lsai. His kind knew how to fight well, and made frequent use of it. They didn't tire easily, and could fight and win battles against mortals and immortals alike that most men only dreamed about. He was in his early thirties, had a strong build, and was very agile. He was naturally bald, had silver blue eyes, and his name was Rinec. He was dressed in all black, wearing a black cloak as well, black made it easier for one to melt right into the shadows—his exact intention, as he didn't like light.

Black was camouflage.

The other man was slightly taller and of African descent, solemn brown eyes staring into Rinec's own. He wore simple earthen colors and sandals, as was the custom of his people in this time.

Only candles lighted the room they spoke in, for outside was dark and they did not wish to attract too much attention on such a night. They stood at the foot of some stairs, talking quietly.

"No, Perel," Rinec said again. "I won't be drawn into yet another war. I'm sick of it, and it's the only time I'm sayin' that, got it?"

"Oh, please? Papa has told me how you defeated the other monsters. How come you can't help us now?" a little girl's voice was heard from the top of the stairs.

Both men looked up. Perel's wife, Anya, was standing there, her arms around their adopted daughter.

"What's your name, kid?" Rinec had never seen the girl before.

"Hush, sweetie. Don't say anything. Back to bed now," Anya spoke quickly. She didn't care for the man in black, with his uncaring attitude and wry humor. She was a bit afraid of him, despite him being her husband's old friend.

But the girl looked down at the solemn men at the foot of the stairs, the light from the candles flickering in their eyes.

"My name's Narusha, but everybody calls me Naru. I'm eight years old," she said.

Anya frowned down at her.

The man in black smirked. He looked over at Perel.

"Nice kid," was his only comment.

Seeing the girl there by the stairs, with her light brown hair, blue eyes, and tan skin reminded him of another girl many years before …

She also reminded him of all the innocent little children who'd suffer at the hands of the Shadok. And so in his mind he decided he'd help them, but being the sort of man he was, he didn't say he'd a 'change of heart.' No better weakness than to let people know one cared.

All in the house suddenly heard a rumbling, almost like thunder, as though the air itself seemed to be vibrating. "They're coming," Naru whispered as if to herself.

Rinec stared at her for a moment, and then walked outside, into the street. Perel, Anya, and Naru followed him. Outside, many others were staring up into the sky at all the grey ships passing overhead. Naru heard the tramping of many feet.

"The Militia is coming!" she cried, happy—the Militia was a huge group made up of thousands of local men who patrolled the cities to keep them safe from invaders.

Rinec's eyes spotted something else. A large amount of gray-clad figures hidden in the shadows of buildings, almost impossible to see. "Run!" he shouted.

The figures moved, and others saw them, and chaos erupted as people ran screaming from the hundreds of grey-armored Shadok. The soldiers started shooting at anything that moved, and smaller gray fighter ships shot lasers at buildings, blowing them up.

The Militia arrived and blasted away at the Shadok with their machine guns. Perel and Anya were running away, dragging the slower Naru behind them, heading for the bomb shelter. A woman screamed, and Naru looked back just as a Shadok looked up.

The Shadok's face was a pale white in the moonlight, passive and expressionless, as if he didn't even have his own thoughts and was a mindless zombie. A shadow covered his eyes, giving the appearance he had none; as if she were seeing into a dark, empty skull. The sword he held was bloody. Naru screamed.

Rinec was slashing and hacking at any Shadok who were unfortunate to be in his way as he worked his way to the top of a damaged roof to look at the ships. They were a dark gray, and even as they passed overhead, Shadok dropped from their open hulls into orderly ranks. Many of the Shadok had knives imbedded in their arms or sides, and hadn't even bothered to take them out. They seemed to have no pain, no capacity for anything short of obedience to whoever their leader was.

Rinec glanced in the direction that Perel and his family had taken. A small group of Shadok was just rounding the corner.

He leapt from roof to roof, crouching against raised sides whenever a ship passed over. He was almost to the shelter when he heard a girl scream 'Mama!' in such a way as to be easily distinguishable from the sounds of explosions, the yells and cries of women and children, the gunfire.

He ran faster. When he reached the edge of a roof, he saw Naru crouching against the opposite wall, a Shadok standing over her with a raised sword. Rinec just kept going, leaping from the roof and landing right on top of the Shadok. He wrenched the sword from the Shadok's grip, and with one swipe, the Shadok was dead. Rinec threw the blade away from himself and turned to Naru, who was kneeling by a body, touching it gently.

"Mama?" Naru pulled at the body's arm. "Come on, mama!"

Rinec knelt too, and looked at Anya's body. "She's dead," he said gruffly. "Where's Perel, Naru?"

She looked up at him, and he saw her eyes were wide and frightened. "Papa made one of the monsters follow him. He hasn't come back yet," she replied.

Rinec got up and started to walk away. Naru picked herself up and ran after him. "Where are you going? Take me with you!" Her terror of being alone was obvious.

Rinec sighed. He picked her up and set her behind a huge pile of rubble. "Stay here," he ordered.

"I'll come back for you."

He left, and after a few minutes of searching and backtracking the path of a Shadok patrol that'd caught his eye, he found Perel's body, and looked at it with regret. They'd been old friends. Taking a necklace that Perel always wore, telling Rinec once it was Naru's true mother's, he headed back to where he'd left Naru.

There were a few Shadok skulking around, he easily got rid of them. "Here," he handed Naru the necklace when he'd finished with them. "It was your real mother's. Perel was going to give it to you."

Naru took it from him, staring at it. Without a word, she put it 'round her neck and they continued to the shelter. Every time they came across a body, which was quite often, Rinec would either walk around it, or pick Naru up and step over it. Because of this and all the debris, the going was slow and more often than not they had to hide behind a building or in the shadows when a large company of Shadok came patrolling by.

They finally reached the shelter. Rinec opened the rusty metal doors and they decended down a few steps to a short hallway which lead to a huge, lamp-lit room. There were many others there already, talking in low tones, murmuring; many crying and others dressing wounds. There seemed to be no children but Naru, and he knew why. They didn't have need for children, only fighters. He led Naru over to a dark corner.

All the noise stopped immediately as the frightened people felt the shelter shake as something seemed to smash against it, and when they heard the metal doors creak open again, somehow everyone knew who it was.


	2. Chapter 2

Shadok came pouring in, surrounding everyone. Rinec hid Naru under his cloak as a Shadok came to the center of the room, looking around at all the weary, frightened, wounded people. They all watched him, unable to breath, afraid of whatever was coming next.

Naru, peaking out from behind Rinec's cloak, saw with some relief that the Shadok really did have eyes after all. The messenger's face was pale, though not as much as the soldiers'.

"Please hear what I have to say. We Shadok have come to liberate you, to free you from all the false religions and beliefs that have held you back for centuries. We have rid you of all the weak, as you who are here are obviously the strong, the survivors! If you join us, you will not have to worry about trivial things like where to get food, how you will work, what everyone thinks of you. You will all be the same-you will have the same freedoms, the same purpose. Join us and you will live. If you agree to join us, kneel. Refuse," the messenger's tone hardened, "and you will die."

All the humans stared at each other uneasily. Suddenly, one man shouted "why? Why should we give up our individuality? Why do we have to be the same, like clones? If we join you, you'll probably treat us like slaves or have us killing off people on other planets just like you've done to ours! I won't do it!" He shook his fist at the messenger.

At a look from the Shadok, one of the soldiers stepped forward and sliced the man's head off. Hidden beneath Rinec's cloak, Naru jumped, dared grab for Rinec's hand, and he didn't move away, but didn't clasp her hand back.

Everyone but Rinec and the hidden Naru slowly knelt. The messenger saw him in the dark corner. "Have you not heard what I said? Kneel or die!" he demanded.

Rinec let go of Naru's hand and looked around at the kneeling, cowed people, the Shadok moving closer to him and gripping their swords. "Nobody makes me do anything," he said slowly and easily, throwing back his cloak and the messenger saw Naru.

He smiled, though not nicely. "Ah! Now I understand! Kneel, and your little girl will be spared."

Naru started, but Rinec didn't react. A big, tough looking Shadok was close enough, and he reached over and grasped Naru's arm started pulling her away from Rinec. She cried out and struggled. Rinec, still staring at the messenger, took hold of the Shadok's arm and squeezed. With a gasp, the Shadok let go. Rinec hauled the Shadok in front of him and stabbed him in the stomach with a knife that suddenly appeared in his hand. "Don't touch the girl," he said, his eyes flashing an eerie blue. He twisted the knife, and wrenched it out, sending the Shadok moaning to the floor; and then he was still.

Apparently, though they were 'undead', Rinec could still make the Shadok feel pain.

He sheathed his dagger. The Shadok moved in closer. Naru pressed herself into Rinec's side, afraid. Rinec wondered how many of the twenty-something Shadok he could take without getting Naru hurt.

"You killed one of our best men," a new, feminine voice spoke up. "Perhaps if we asked you to join us, you will?"

A woman came into view, a woman with dark hair and brown eyes. She walked between the other Shadok, right up to Rinec and Naru. "I am Sheni. Would you like to take a tour of our ship?" she invited, and without waiting for an answer, she turned away and headed down the hallway to the door. She opened it, and Rinec saw that the door was no longer there, but a ship's entrance attached to the doorway of the bomb shelter.

They were prodded none too gently by a Shadok, and Rinec decided not to take a chance and followed Sheni, Naru still close to his side. They entered the ship, and when they had walked down a huge hall and Sheni pointed out a few things of interest, she glanced down at Naru.

"What do you think of our ship so far, of our soldiers? They are magnificent, are they not? Would you like to become one?"

Naru looked up at Sheni, and her eyes darkened. "No," she stated loudly, firmly. "Your men are bad. They killed my mama and my papa and were going to hurt me."

The Shadok didn't usually spare children, as they could not fight wars or obey orders well. They demanded more care and attention than the Shadok could afford to give. Sheni, however, believed that having a child Shadok could be of some use.

She stopped thinking such things then because Naru was giving her a very un-childlike knowing look.

There were metal statues all along the hallways of Shadok in various fighting stances, as well as full busts of their leader, Tsar. Soon-to-be Shadok were receiving the 'mark', a hole pierced straight through each palm. They eventually healed, although the holes were permanent. However, those with the mark got used to and even no longer felt the pain when they had been Shadok for a few days. Because of blood loss, their skin paled considerably.

Naru looked away, tugging on Rinec's hand. "Can we go now?" she pleaded. "I don't like this place. It's scary-all these people who look half dead, and there aren't any bright colors, only black and grey."

Rinec had to agree with that, only they were still surrounded by expressionless Shadok, and he didn't want to risk Naru's life trying to escape. He was quite sure Sheni knew that, too-a man with a child would take fewer risks and was more easily persuaded than a man only looking out for himself was.

They kept walking, Sheni continually pointing out the 'wonderful' things about being a Shadok. Eventually they found themselves in a huge room, and at the other end was a throne on which a masked man sat, their leader—Tsar himself.

"You are …?" He questioned, and Rinec studied him for a moment before answering.

"My name is Rinec Darthoc. This is Naru."

"So you are a Lsai? Interesting! You must be the man who killed one of my best Shadok," the voice behind the mask was polite, though not without malice.

But that was to be expected, given the current circumstances.

Naru gathered her courage and spoke to him. "You really need to redecorate. This place needs more color. If mama-if mama were here, it would look a lot better."

Sheni stifled a laugh behind her hand, but Tsar remained serious. "Where is your mother? Perhaps I could hire her," he said.

Naru's expression changed, and her voice, when she spoke, was flat and without emotion. For a moment, she was no longer a child. "You killed her. And you killed papa too." She turned to Rinec. "I hate this place. They kill people, and they live in this horrible, colorless ship. They do not care what they do to others; they only care about what they can get from it. I am getting out of here. I hope something goes terribly wrong and they do us all a favor and blow themselves up," she said, sounding not at all like the eight year old she was.

She began walking back the way they had come. Her only goal was to get out of there. A Shadok guarding the door raised his sword. Rinec pulled out a knife he could afford to lose, and threw it at the guard. He ran to Naru and picked her up, raced out of the room and down the winding, narrow hallways and corridors. He did not hesitate to bowl over any Shadok who got in their way.

Then Naru was wrenched from his grasp. He whirled around, but there was no one in sight. He swore. He'd a chance to destroy Tsar, and he hadn't. Now they had Naru. He continued on, keeping to the shadows as he searched for her. Sometimes he hated his loyalty. In life, though, Perel had been one of his few friends, and he owed him. So he would take care of the girl. He had to find her-what would they do with her? Try to lure him into a trap?

"Rinec! Help!" He heard Naru cry out, and then came the sound of a slap, and a scream.

He started running. Two minutes later, he found the room she was in. She was braced up against a wall, clamps holding her in place. A metal rod ran through one palm and out of the other. Rinec was mad. He slid the rod out of her palms, tore the clamps open, and picked her up. He used the rod as a weapon, slamming the ends into any Shadok who got in his way. He found an exit, jumped out of the ship. As he ran, a Shadok fighter ship followed him, shooting laser bolts at him. He couldn't seem to avoid it. Then something shot out from a space between two large buildings and hit the ship, which blew up immediately after.

Rinec stopped running, and set Naru down. Her face was very pale, and her entire body was shaking. Her hands were soaked with blood. Rinec tore cloth from both his sleeves, and wrapped them tightly around her hands, then tied the ends together on each hand. Naru looked up at him, her eyes darker than usual. Her lower lip quivered. "It hurts," she said quietly.

"I'm sure it does," Rinec patted her shoulder awkwardly, and she winced.

Which made him wonder just how bad the pain was, and how she couldn't be screaming at this point.

"We need to get out of here," he said, glancing around-they weren't much protected, standing right in the middle of a street-anyone could easily spot and shoot them.

Rinec guided Naru into an alley.

"Can I sit down?" Naru's voice sounded very weak.

Rinec nodded, and Naru slid down against the wall and closed her eyes. She suddenly looked even younger, deathly skinny, and pale. Her stomach growled audibly, and Rinec was reminded that he had a slice of bread in his pocket he'd gotten from the meal at Perel's. He'd intended to save it for the trip back to nowhere.

He took the bread out and knelt in front of Naru. "I've some food for you. Come on, kid, open your mouth," he urged.

Naru opened her mouth, but kept her eyes closed. Rinec tore off a piece and gave it to her. She chewed slowly and swallowed. Rinec fed her until the whole slice was gone, mentally berating himself. _Like she's a baby and I'm her freaking babysitter._

"Didn't know you liked babysitting," Rinec heard a familiar voice behind him.

He got up quickly and spun around; there before him stood a man with grey hair and a scraggly beard, along with three other men who carried laserguns-an expensive weapon on this planet. The man and Rinec were old 'friends'. He was a bounty hunter and had caught Rinec a few times before, though he'd always escaped. Rinec was worth a good amount, being a wanted man on seven other planets.

"I'm not babysitting, Baril. She's Perel's girl. The Shadok got her, so now she's half Shadok herself," replied Rinec, and the others took a step back.

"Them? We don't want to have anything to do with them," Baril growled, peering at Naru curiously, though wary.

Rinec permitted himself a wry smile. "Yes. It'd be too bad. They're looking for us, probably want us real bad," he drawled.

"Is that so?" Baril stroked his beard.

Rinec knew that was the signal, but he wasn't ready. The last thought before the butt of a gun hit him was _I hope they leave the kid alone._


	3. Chapter 3

When he woke, they were in a ship, and his arms and legs were in clamps. "Where's the kid?" he drawled in a careless voice--he'd always been good at giving the impression he didn't care.

"I'm right here," said a voice by his knee.

He looked down, and saw Naru wasn't tied, and her hands were wrapped in clean white cloths. Baril knew she couldn't do anything to them.

"They don't hurt so much anymore. I don't know why," Naru said of her hands, answering the question he'd decided not to ask.

Her face was as pale as any Shadok's, but she wasn't one. She didn't seem quite as childish as before, as innocent. Watching people die, her parents among them, had caused her to grow up a little too fast. And deep down inside Rinec wondered if he had been like her when his parents died. He flexed his muscles and pushed against the clamps. They didn't budge.

Baril looked back at him and grinned. Rinec knew where they were going--Kasar, a planet known for its number of prisons. Valuable prisoners often were traded for others that would bring a better price. Baril had an underground prison there, where he kept all the people he captured. It was a dark and dirty place, and those within could be very cruel. He would have to make sure the kid was always in his sight.

"Awful nice of old Perel to think of giving the kid to me," he said aloud.

"My name's Naru, yours is Rinec. It's not the 'kid' or 'you girl.' And papa didn't give me to you, didn't want to leave me. They-the Shadok-made him leave. I bet he would've wanted me to stay with a nice old lady like the one next door to our house. I bet he didn't even think of you," Naru retorted in a high voice.

"Sure-and the Shadok would come along and easily kill the old lady and you. Better unappreciated than dead," was Rinec's calm reply.

Naru was silent after that. They both knew he had a point.

There was a sudden thump as the ship landed, and a hissing sound as the engines turned off and the hatch opened.

"Where are we?" Asked Naru fearfully.

"We are at Kasar, and we will be staying in Baril's prison. Eventually he will sell us to the Eiqner-or me, at least," Rinec was quite sure of that.

The Eiqner, or just plain 'Eiqner', was a powerful emperor on another planet. Rinec had killed his father when he had tried to take over a planet called Cheyxu. At first Eiqner hadn't cared, until he'd become evil like his father-which hadn't taken very long. Then he wanted vengeance for his father's death, and so had sworn to destroy all the Lsai. In less than six months after Eiqner had attacked the planet, the only Lsai known to exist were Rinec and a little girl. She had brown hair and light blue eyes like her father. Eiqner's own men came after them, and little Leana was killed. Rinec himself was able to escape to Earth, though he'd never been the same since.

Rinec was amazed how much time passed in what seemed like only a moment, coming back to the present, only to realize that his hands and legs were tied, and Naru was walking beside him. He tried to move but couldn't, even to elbow the smirking idiot helping to carry him, which really ticked him off, made his blood boil.

"Baril said he temporarily paralyzed you," Naru informed Rinec as they went down a long tunnel built into a cave. They reached a metal door that separated the prison from the rest of the cave, two torches on either side of it.

Naru was looking around when she saw one of their captors peering at an object in the dim light-her father's necklace. Baril had taken it from her, and he must have given it to one of his guards, having no real interest in selling it but trying to be cruel in yet another little way.

She went over to the guard, tapped him with her elbow. "Can I have that, please? It was my mama's first and then my papa's … mine, I mean. My mama used to say that if it's not yours, don't touch it or take it," she told him, held out a bandaged hand.

The man laughed. "It's mine now, kid." He looked at Naru's plaintive face, her still outstretched hand. "Tell you what-maybe I'll give it to you if you get out within six years-let's shake on it," he boomed.

Before Naru could move, the man grasped her hands in his, squeezing them tightly. Naru didn't cry out, but her eyes began to glisten at the corners.

Rinec was furious—to do that to a kid! He wanted to slice the idiot into tiny pieces, letting him feel the pain and die slowly. Naru had to be at least a third Lsai. No normal human child could withstand such pain, new Shadok or not.

"I want my necklace," Naru insisted once more, in a tight voice, when the man had let go of her hands.

He ignored her as Baril undid the bolt and opened the door. Then he untied Rinec's hands and legs, shoved both Rinec and Naru in. The door slammed shut behind them, and they were plunged into darkness. Rinec heard Naru stifle a cry of pain as one of her hands struck rock. "I don't like this place. It's awful dark." Naru's voice, strangely, did not echo.

"There are lanterns and torches somewhere in here, as well as a few air holes. But they're carved out of rock and nothing anyone has in here could make them larger. It'll get lighter as your eyes get used to the dark," Rinec found he could talk again.

"I don't like the dark. That man can't be trusted-there could be monsters in here. Or Shadok," Naru protested in a small voice as she fell prey to her fears. "Anyway, you can walk again, can't you?"

Rinec slowly stood up. He took a few small steps-he was fine. Any more time spent in the tunnel and he would have been able to get free and kill all of them, even the wily old Baril. Darkness was his element, his friend. He could see all right in the dark. Naru didn't know it, though. He could see her hugging the cave wall, eyes closed--so she was scared of the dark? She'd have to get used to it, if she stayed with him. Part of him hoped she would. Not that she had a choice right now. But he'd get them out somehow.

He picked Naru up quickly so that she did not have time to be afraid, and kept walking straight ahead. Soon they could both see lights. A few more yards, and they were suddenly in the midst of many men and a few women of varying ages. They all had knives of some sort, as Baril let them keep simple weapons. As long as they were in the Hole, as they called it, there was no chance of them escaping, so they could do what they pleased, which sometimes included fighting each other-which explained the need for weapons. After all, if they were going to be there for a very long time, they'd undoubtedly get on each other's nerves, and there were very few things to pass the time besides play cards, eat, sleep, and kill each other. Since most were very dangerous people, why not just kill each other for fun?

All of them fell silent and still as statues when they saw the two. Rinec carefully set Naru down. She looked around at all of them with their hard, set faces and ragged, dirty clothes. She pressed against Rinec for comfort and courage, then opened her mouth and the first words to come out were "You're all really dirty. You ought to take a bath-maybe five."

One of the older men started cackling at that remark, which turned into a very bad cough. Naru could see all the gold teeth in his mouth, along with some rotten ones. "You should brush your teeth more too. Or else you might not be able to eat anything except for really icky squashed foods." Talking of food reminded her that she was still hungry. "What do you have to eat?"

They didn't know what to make of her, what the hell was a little kid doing here? One of the men fingered his knife. Naru stepped back, and before he was able to get it out, Rinec's knife was at his throat. "Leave the girl alone. You touch her and you're dead," he spoke, maddeningly calm.

He made a good point; everyone there got the message. He knew as well as they it didn't mean they'd obey for long.

Naru poked him in the side with her elbow. "My hands don't hurt anymore. Can you take the bandages off and see if they're-if they're getting better?" She asked him.

Rinec led her to an area right by a torch so that they had plenty of light. He hated being the caretaker-he should have known better. He was always helping people out, and look where it got him--playing babysitter to an eight year old. Slowly, carefully undoing her bandages they saw the results of her now-fast healing. Her hands were clean, and the hole through each of her palms was large enough for them to see through, see the hard rock floor of the cave.

"They look funny," mumbled Naru, and she burst into tears.

There was no way Rinec could help her with that. He certainly didn't want to get hugged, of all things. Naru taking his hand, pressing against him for comfort-that was one thing, tolerable at best, but hugging, that cuddly, too-close, softy type thing? No way. He wasn't the sot of person who gave anyone anything but a death hug. He moved away from Naru quickly, as though she had a deadly disease and stood at a distance watching her shake and sob, wrap her arms around her legs and tuck her head to her stomach and cry. He glanced at the others. They wouldn't stand for her crying much longer--they were watching her, eyes glinting. It was a good thing she soon stopped, curling up into a ball.

Rinec approached her, asking, "Are you done?"

It was a stupid, callous question, but then he was a gruff, callous person. How else would a man who always had to kill to stay alive be? He certainly wasn't an angel or a 'gentle soul', never that.

"Go away. All I want is my mama and papa, and they're dead. There, I said it. They're dead and they're never coming back and you can't bring them back!" Naru cried, and then added, "I'll bet you never cried in your whole life."

Her simple, childish words touched a nerve in Rinec and he found himself instantly furious. Unfortunately, at that moment, a man decided to launch himself at Naru. Bad idea.

"Grrroouugh!" Rinec roared, and slammed into the man.

He smashed him against the rock wall. One quick twist and he broke the man's right arm. Then he punched him in the face. The other whipped out a knife with his left hand, stabbed at Rinec, slashed at him. Rinec punched him in the stomach, stabbed him with his own knife. The man fell, and Rinec turned back to where Naru had been. There was another man with a gun in his hand, finger on the trigger. There was no way he could miss.

Rinec tensed.

The man suddenly grunted, spitting blood and swaying unsteadily. Then he fell.

Naru was standing behind the fallen man, a blackened torch with a sharp tip in her hands.

She dropped it, wincing at a pain in her hands, stared at the body on the cave floor, then at Rinec. "I didn't want you to die. Then I would have nobody left," she said quietly, slowly, in a strange voice.

Her hands were shaking.

Rinec came over to her and picked her up, bringing her into one of the little rooms that each prisoner had. It was like a cell, only without bars or locks. No one could get out of the prison and so the rest didn't matter. If they killed each other, which many did, what'd it matter in the long run?

Rinec lay Naru down on the thin mat that served as a bed, and she fell right asleep. Rinec stayed by the door, knife ready.

As far as he could recall, not many people had ever done anything for him. After his mother and father died, everyone he knew left him alone to his own devices. It was during first few years by himself that he learned to fight, to kill. All the people who used to know his parents watched from a safe distance as he developed into a young man who had no loyalties to anyone, and did not care whether they lived or died.

Only, sometimes he did care. Occasionally he wished that people did not look at him and say, "there goes a man who doesn't care about anyone. Look at how tough he is, nobody can hurt him, he isn't afraid of anything. I wish I could be like that." In his days as a fighter in the Hielnv stadium, that is exactly what many people thought.

Naru cared, though. She cared about a man she'd only heard of, and only been with for a little less than a day. She cared about him, the man who didn't need anyone, and he hated it. What she'd done-little girls weren't supposed to hurt people. They were supposed to play hide and seek, play with dolls. Little girls were taught to beware of strangers, not seek comfort from them and defend them and want to be with them just because they were 'papa's' friend. And since when did they not mind that same person mindlessly killing, bad guys or not?

"Oh man!" Rinec rubbed his forehead, which had started to ache. He always got headaches when he thought too deep or began to feel like he cared. _I'm losing my cool. The only way to end this war is to kill._


	4. Chapter 4

When morning came, Naru opened her eyes and yawned, looking about her. Rinec was sitting on a rock near the entrance of the little room. Right beside Naru was a pancake and milk, and she wondered where Rinec had gotten it … could they really have such a normal breakfast-or breakfast at all-in a place such as this?

"Good morning. Did you already eat?" Naru asked Rinec.

"Yeah. I told you that it gets brighter here in the morning. Last night too much for you to handle?" Rinec broached the subject as lightly as he could.

Naru sat up, frowning. "I had a bad dream that I killed someone. You were there, and a man was going to shoot you. I didn't want you to end up like mama or papa so"-she stopped, and didn't finish.

Rinec didn'tbother telling her it hadn't been a dream. If that was what she thought, well fine, it would help her not make a big deal out of it. If she was lying and she really did remember what she'd done, maybe if she lied to herself enough she'd come to believe she really hadn't killed anyone.

Naru began eating, and when she was done, she drank all her milk and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Thank you, Rinec."

_ First time she's ever said my name._

She got up and stood beside him, looked out of the cell. The cave was much brighter, just as Rinec had said. She could see little air holes all over, but they seemed much too high to get to. "It's not so scary now. If we could actually get out of here-if there was no metal door to keep us in-I would want to live here," she told Rinec. "Where's the bathroom?"

Rinec pointed out a little door in a corner of the cave not too far from them, and Naru headed toward it. Bored, he pulled out his knife and stared at it. He'd had it for a long time. It was special, very special ... the people who created it were all dead, but their artisanship was renowned, and many of their weapons were still around. When he put the knife in its sheath, within two minutes the blade would be perfectly clean, without a spot of blood or dirt on it, and very sharp. He put it back.

"Hey, man. You think you're getting out of here? You probably won't. Anyone old Baril doesn't like, he keep sin here for a long, long time. I should know, been here for thirty five years," one of the older men came over to him, the one with the cough.

Rinec was silent.

"That your daughter? You two look alike," the old man tried again.

Rinec shifted position, finally acknowledged the man. "No."

But he had—he'd a daughter once. Leana, the one Lsai girl that the Eiqner's men had killed … never told her he was her father, but he loved her. Now she was dead. "Get away from me, old man," Rinec said in a thick, throaty voice.

He felt like killing something, he was so tense. He didn't want that Naru girl to come and find him by a dead body. The old man cackled, turned around, and headed for some other men playing cards. Rinec sighed with relief.

Two minutes later, Naru came back. "How long do you think we'll be here?" She asked Rinec as she sat down beside him.

"However long Baril feels like keeping us here until he notifies Eiqner that he has us. He's the only way out," Rinec explained.

"How can he sell us? Is this allowed? It sounds kind of like the slavery thing mama talked about," Naru was puzzled. "We aren't his."

For some reason, Rinec found her comment amusing. He gave a short laugh, stretched. "Kid," he began, "on this planet, there is no law. The other bounty hunters could come and raid this place, take all the valuable prisoners. Nobody but Baril would think anything of it. These hunters don't care what they do with us as long as we can be exchanged, and no one else cares either.

Some of those men over there, playing cards-this is their life. They've most likely been here for at least ten years, because whoever wants them is taking too long to come up with the money, or simply because they did something to Baril years back. The hunters only care about the money they can get when they hand one of the guys over to whoever wants them dead or alive. Those men don't matter to anyone, and they've learned not to care."

"Like you?" What Naru had been thinking unintentionally came out of her mouth.

"Yeah, kid. Like me. I don't matter to anyone, and I don't care." Rinec's tone was flat and hard.

Naru gazed at him with her bright blue eyes, and he could see them soften as she looked at him. "But you matter to me. Why would no one care about you? You saved that one planet, and you're really brave. I don't get it."

"The very few people who ever cared about me are dead. That's what you get for caring. So I don't bother to care."

"Yes you do."

Rinec lifted his head. Naru was back in the cell, on the mat. Staring at the wall of rock and singing to herself in some language he didn't recognize.

Something tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled, whipping out his knife. Five men, all with guns pointed at him, surrounded him. All the other inmates were being watched the same way. Baril was there too.

"We contacted the Eiqner. He's out there right now, waiting for you," Baril smiled, revealing his rotten teeth.

"What about the girl?"

"She'll just stay here. I'm sure I can find something or someone who will be interested in buying her," replied Baril.

Rinec was about to throw his knife at him, but a man slammed a metal rod into his stomach, and he sat down hard. _Bloody hell I hate bounty hunters. _Visions of their lifeless, blood-spattered, slashed and hardly recognizable faces flickered through his mind, and he relished it. _Someday._

"Rinec!" Naru realized they were taking him away, and tried to get to him.

Two men-one of them the man who had her necklace-held her back. She struggled, but it was a futile effort.

Rinec looked up at Baril. He hated feeling helpless. "You'd better not hurt the kid," he growled., and Baril laughed, sounding just like a braying donkey to Naru-who realized that she wanted to punch him and wipe that expression off his face.

Baril suddenly hit Rinec with the butt of his gun, and Rinec fell to the ground, senseless.

"You killed him! You killed him, you dirty, rotten old man!" Screamed Naru and Baril slapped her.

"No I didn't," he snarled. "And just for that, you'll be staying here for a long, long time."

The men left, and as they closed the metal door behind them, it clanged shut with a finality that made the air itself seem to vibrate.

"No. Now everybody I know is gone," Naru whispered to herself, falling to the ground and curling into a ball; suddenly conscious of how very _alone _she was.

After a moment a thought crossed her mind, a scary, bold thought. She lifted her head up, a determined light in her eyes. _I'll be like him. He went after us, and I don't think he had to. I'm going to do the same for him. I'm going to get out of here, _she told herself.

Looking for what appeared to be the largest air hole in the cave wall, she began climbing. Her slender fingers found and used crevices and cracks in the cave walls that other men and women couldn't, though there were several times her feet dangled and had to grip the rock with all her strength, while thinking she'd lose her grip and fall.

But finally she reached the hole and was amazed to see how big it actually was. Grunting, she pulled herself through and blinked from the bright light. She was on a ledge only a bit higher than the entrance to the prison, and could see a ship, as well as the unconscious Rinec. A dark haired man was standing by the ship, looking down at him while Baril and several other men stood on the other side of Rinec, and the man handed some sort of currency to Baril.

Naru jumped off the ledge, landed on a patch of grass and stayed there for a moment, breathless. Then she got up and ran toward the men. It appeared to her that this Eiqner man didn't like Rinec at all, held a dagger in his hand. What was it with bad people and knives?

"No! Leave him alone!" She cried, jumping in front of Eiqner.

She didn't know what else to do, she couldn't hurt him-she didn't have any weapons-and Rinec was too heavy for her to drag him away herself.

The Eiqner couldn't prevent himself from stopping the dagger, which he'd intended to kill Rinec with. It plunged into Naru, piercing her heart instead of Rinec's. She looked down at her chest, staring at the blood seeping out as though it was someone else's. She blinked. "Oh," she said slowly, ponderingly. "Oh."

Rinec's eyelids fluttered. No one noticed. The Eiqner pulled the dagger out, and they all waited silently for Naru to die. She swayed, stumbled and almost fell, then braced herself and stood straight and tall. She smiled, and it was a knowing, terrible smile. The same one has when they are expecting to die by the hand of some evil person-and they do not; and instead of gloating and laughing satanically the evil person is gaping in horror. Naru's eyes seemed to Eiqner as black pearls, shining and beautiful yet cold and hard.

_ I'm … alive!? _she thought, heart pounding wildly, exhilarated.

"Let him go, Eiqner. He doesn't deserve to die. He oughtn't. He saved a world once, and now we need him. The Shadok are attacking earth, and if he doesn't stop them, there won't be any more humans, earth will be destroyed. And who knows, maybe your planet will be next."

"You think I care about earth? About humans? I hate your pitiful kind"-even as Eiqner said it, he came to the realization that of course Naru was not human-humans died; Naru had not-"always needing to be rescued from certain annihilation by some stronger, higher being. This man is the last Lsai. I kill him and there will be no more of their kind to help anyone. Rinec is not great. He's an overly-muscular man with a loyalty to humans that I find repulsive and disgusting. He matters to no one and so he will die," Eiqner motioned to the men behind Naru to kill the man she held so dear.

She screamed in pure rage and frustration. She couldn't stand it anymore ... _Rinec's the only one who can save earth, and every stupid idiot can't see that saving the earth DOES matter and so does the man who's gonna save it!_

Her body seemed to ripple and almost split in two and then there were five of her, six, seven, and eight. All eight girls glaring at the surrounding men with ghostly eyes while forming a protective barrier around the unconscious Rinec.

"Stay away from him you fools!" She spat.

To her, only she spoke. To everyone else, one solid girl and seven transparent ones raised their voices and spoke as one. Panicked, the men shot at them. Naru barred her arm and the bullets bounced off the eight figures' arms like super balls as they moved them to connect with the bullets. All eight heads turned to look at Eiqner when the astonished men stopped firing. "I'm borrowing your ship," they hissed.

With a speed unknown to mortals, they picked Rinec up, hurried into the ship, took control after shoving the pilot out and flew off.

Naru was exhausted. She put in the coordinates for earth, pushed autopilot, and leaned against a wall. The last thing she saw before closing her eyes was Rinec slowly standing up.

She slept.

When she woke, she was lying on the floor and Rinec was sitting in the pilot's seat. "Have we landed on earth yet?" Naru asked him.

"No. you were only out for about five minutes, and this ship doesn't have hyper speed. How did I get here? You couldn't have carried me all by yourself," Rinec speculated.

"I don't remember."

And she didn't; at least she thought she didn't. After all, how could seven ghostly, transparent figures looking exactly like her have appeared and done what they did? And how could someone have stabbed her and not died? As soon as she thought of that, she looked down-there was still blood on her shirt, some of it drying.

"However you did it, thanks." Rinec was business-like and gruff again, looking out at planet Earth, which was getting closer every minute.

Naru spoke up. "I saw seven of me. Only they looked like ghosts. I sort of remember carrying you, only like you said; it couldn't have been just me."

Rinec seemed to have started when she mentioned ghosts that looked like her. He remembered time-years ago-when he had encountered a being like that … "Do you remember how you got out?" He asked her to get his mind off it.

Naru looked straight into his eyes, holding his gaze with her own. "I looked for the biggest air hole I saw and I climbed up to it. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I saw you and Eiqner-I was on a ledge-and I jumped off it and ran over to you. After that, I think he stabbed me with a knife, but it didn't really hurt and nothing happened. And then was the ghost thing."

Rinec looked down at Naru's hands. "That must have been some climb-your hands are all scraped and bloody," he commented, making no mention of the holes, which seemed almost natural to them both, and too little to make much of compared with other things they had to deal with.

Following his gaze, she looked down at her own hands. They were just as he said yet she hadn't noticed until now, they didn't hurt much at all. Nothing compared to that knife sliding through her soft flesh, into her heart.

Watching her, Rinec suddenly realized that he was talking much more than he ever had. Was he going soft? He searched the tiny heart he had and was relieved to find that he was as loyal to her and committed to protecting her as always. Nothing more … and yet he wondered.

Naru, too, was doing her own thinking. Where would she go after Rinec was done 'protecting' her? There was more danger being WITH Rinec than if he'd dropped her off at some other planet. Yet he was always bringing her with him. She was sure he was tired of watching over her. So why not just leave her somewhere safe? Then he would've repaid his debt to her father and he could go save the world all by himself, like he had before.

"Here's the deal. We-I mean I-kill some Shadok. We get into their armor and go into that big ship that we were in the first time, the one with Tsar in it. As soon as I am close enough to Tsar, you can go and hide somewhere," Rinec briefed her…he then wondered if there were any Shadok who wore armor that would fit Naru-probably not.

"Why must I hide? Can't I help you?"

"You can't really fight Shadok, so there's no point in you coming with me after that. Since we escaped, most likely Tsar will be well guarded. I will have to get rid of the guards, fight Tsar, and kill him…I can't do that with a little kid hanging around. We're in Earth's atmosphere now-I hope the Shadok don't see us coming."


	5. Chapter 5

They didn't.

Rinec landed the ship in a courtyard. Then he took some handguns he'd found in the ship and loaded them. He gave Naru one too. "The Shadok are going to be more desperate than that man in the prison to get you. Don't you lose this gun, and I hope you know how to aim," he instructed her.

"Rinec," Naru said finally after staring at it for a moment, "I'm eight. I don't know how to use this thing."

Rinec took the gun away from her. Of course, she wouldn't know how to use it, simple enough to teach her but he wasn't in the mood _safety off, aim, pull the trigger_. They disembarked and passed through a broken gate that must have separated the inner courtyard from the busy street, only the street was no longer busy, empty but for dead, broken bodies and shattered pieces of glass that lay glinting in the sun, which shouldn't have been shining on such a day. Naru said as much, and Rinec shook his head.

"Haven't you noticed? The war is over, the Shadok have won. They'll be moving on to other planets soon, taking their resources and their people. But if we can get on the ship before they leave, then we have a chance."

"If you are going to do all the fighting yourself, why are you letting me come?" Demanded Naru.

Rinec looked away. "Because after they take all they want from a planet, they use a special bomb that destroys every living thing on the planet," he answered slowly.

So if Naru was on the ship, she would be better on in case Rinec failed.

"And perhaps if the Shadok did not find me and I felt brave enough, I could try to destroy Tsar; or steal one of their smaller ships and go warn the other planets," Naru finished Rinec's unspoken thoughts.

They hid behind some rubble from a fallen balcony as a group of about ten Shadok passed. They were picking up al the dead Shadok they found and bring them to the ships. Rinec slipped behind them and killed one of them, brought the body to where Naru was hiding. He donned himself in grey, and then took Naru's hand-which startled her-and they continued until Naru stopped abruptly.

"Oh," she said, and tears ran down her face.

Rinec ground his teeth together in irritation. "What?"

"I never got my necklace back." It was a simple, petty thing to cry over when they were trying not to be killed but cry she did.

That necklace had been the only tie and reminder of her mother and father, except for Rinec himself, who had been her father's friend. And she had forgotten about it because of all that had occurred.

Rinec jerked her forward. Two minutes later, they were able to sneak into the ship that Tsar was most likely in. Rinec tucked Naru into a dark storage room, then left. He said nothing of what he was going to do, and Naru wondered if he was going to fight Tsar.

The doors opened again a short while later, and Naru panicked when two Shadok entered. She hid behind a couple storage boxes and peered at the two, hoped they wouldn't hear her.

"Yes," one was saying. "I heard about them. They've been said to be even more invincible than us. They also can supposedly split themselves into eight souls."

The other nodded, agreeing. "I heard from Tsar himself we are building up our army and we will attack the Shadow People last. They have ten times more resources than any thirty planets we have attacked. When we integrate them into our army, we'll rule over the entire galaxy in no time.

"You mean Tsar will. We are only his soldiers."

"Don't say it that way! You know what will happen if he thinks we are disloyal!" The second man in grey armor hissed.

Naru couldn't resist it. "What's gonna happen if Tsar thinks you disloyal?" She spoke, standing up and showing herself.

After a start, they both shot at her. She blocked the bullets with her arm. As if that were a special signal, there were seven transparent clones of her. "Bullets don't hurt me. How could they? You yourselves admitted I'm more invincible than you," the eight mouths moved as one.

"A Shadow Girl!" One Shadok was able to gasp before the seven transparent girls jumped them.

One Shadow picked up both Shadok and threw them into the wall with inhuman strength and the Shadok fell to the floor, unmoving. Naru stared at her Shadows, not quite believing what she was seeing, and she walked over to the two Shadok. "They're dead," she said, her voice quavering a little.

"We're your protection," said one Shadow. "We take care of you until you find out who you are and get older. The reason the knife and the bullets didn't hurt you is because we were in you. Even when you are older and are stronger even without us, we are still useful."

And then the Shadows disappeared and Naru was left alone with two dead bodies and a tiredness she couldn't explain. She dragged herself into a huge empty storage box, closed it, and fell asleep. She could almost hear her Shadows explaining to her that until her body and her mind got used to the idea of there being eight of her, she would always be very tired right after.

It seemed like only moments before Rinec was shaking her awake. "Did you kill those two Shadok?" He asked.

Naru blinked, and then nodded sleepily, still only half awake. She still wasn't exactly sure how to deal with the Shadows herself, so how would she explain it to Rinec? The Shadows were she, but they were not. It was confusing.

Rinec pressed something into her palm. She looked at it. It was her necklace. He'd gone all the way back to Kasar for her necklace? What time was it? Was the ship already in the air? How long did it take Rinec to get the necklace? He'd done all that for her? Did he finally care? Did he finally understand that he DID matter and that she cared about him?

"Say something," she mumbled as Rinec helped her stand up, and she put the necklace on, still marveling that Rinec had done such a thing for her.

"It didn't take me all that long to get the necklace, most of the time I was looking at a map I found. And it is-well, you've been sleeping for about three hours and the ship is going to leave the planet in less than two hours," Rinec informed her. "Is this a safe enough hiding spot?"

Naru looked around. There were many boxes that she could hide in but all of them were

new. The Shadok could quite easily find her. "No."

He nodded and they walked toward the door. It slid back into the wall, and they came out. Twenty Shadok were waiting for them, surrounding the door. Naru looked at all of them wide-eyed. Had they seen where Rinec had come back? Were they going to kill Rinec and her, or just bring them to Tsar? She could barely breathe she was so frightened, and then she remembered her Shadows, and what they had said about helping her.

"Don't worry, I'll get us out of this," Rinec promised, staring at all the guns pointed at them, the swords.

Naru gave him a smile, which puzzled him. And then there were eight of her. Her Shadows calmly, easily blocked the swords and the bullets shot a moment later. Rinec stood there for a moment, astonished. He recovered quickly and jumped the nearest figure clad in grey armor.

Two Shadows guarded the solid Naru. Her Shadows were complete clones of her, though they were much more fierce and indestructible. And in spite of them being her, they still were like separate people. Naru wondered if she were injured, if they would be injured as well. What if they died? Then she realized that although separate, they were truly a part of her and that it all depended on what happened to her … it was all so confusing and complicated. But that didn't really matter because in less than a minute all the Shadok were dead and the seven Shadows disappeared.

"Now where do we go?" Naru asked Rinec.

He started to answer her when she closed her eyes and fell to the floor. He picked her up, and wondered when the last time he slept was. He also wondered if he had fallen asleep as easily as Naru. He hoped not. One in his profession hadn't any time to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Naru was dreaming. She saw herself, before the war. All healthy-looking and happy, telling Anya a joke and laughing. They were in a little garden of flowers that Naru herself had helped grow and tend. The happy Naru turned and saw her. A puzzled, worried look appeared on her face. _Who are you? Why are you so dirty? Why do you look sad? It is a wonderful day! The sun is shining, the flowers have bloomed, Anya and I are going to bake cookies soon,_ the other Naru spoke to her, a frown on her face.

Naru stepped toward her old self. Anya spotted her and screamed, ran into the house. Naru remembered the day well now. She and Anya had thought they saw a ghost. Yes, a ghost from the future.

"Things will not always be wonderful and fun. Someday some bad grey men are going to come and destroy most of Earth. Anya and Perel-they are going to"-she began, but could not finish. This younger her was too innocent, too happy. She could not shatter that-not yet.

_ Why are you talking that way? Why is your skin so pale, and why are there holes in your hands? What has happened to you-to me?_ Asked the younger Naru.

Naru gave her a sad smile. "I've grown up too fast. I can't be a little child, it's too dangerous. But at least I am able to help Rinec fight," she replied.

_ Who is Rinec? Why can I see through you-are you really a ghost? Am I dead so soon in the future-because you don't look much older than I am now_ the younger Naru's eyes were getting wider and her mouth was open and made the shape of an O.

"You should ask Perel-I mean papa-who Rinec is. He'll tell you about how he saved a planet. And I'm not a ghost. You're still alive at my age." It felt weird to be talking to herself—her younger self, as if she were looking into a mirror.

_ Okay. But I don't want to look like you-all pale and sad and dirty and your clothes are torn, and I don't want there to be a war…_

Everything started to blur. "You won't have a choice!" Naru called to the fading figure.

She must have completely forgotten seeing herself, or passed it off as a dream. Though now she knew it wasn't. Anya had never mentioned it either.


	7. Chapter 7

"You have a conversation with your old self?" Rinec's voice was the first thing she heard.

"Yes. Why?"

"You were talking in your sleep. I could hear every single word." He didn't mention that for a moment she had completely disappeared and he'd heard her disembodied voice. He'd thought the Shadok had used some new technology to zap her away and make her fully Shadok, and the voice had been a trick. He would never say anything like that, though.

Naru sat up, but didn't look at him. Every word—he'd heard every word.

"Where are we now?" She asked as she looked around…another dark room, she could see that much.

"We're in another storage room, one the Shadok never use" was Rinec's answer, and Naru wondered how he could possibly know—it didn't look different from the other one in any way, to her.

"Anyway," Rinec continued, "this is the room you need to stay in. It's right by Tsar's throne room. I know that you killed all those other Shadok, but I'm not taking any chances."

"Rinec"-Naru's tone had a new note to it that Rinec didn't understand, but almost did. "Don't die." She looked at him solemnly.

He didn't answer, but got up and left the dark, musty room without a goodbye. And Naru felt as if she had seen the last of Rinec, the last of the Lsai. Forever and for always. She felt very alone. Rinec was going to fight Tsar, and was most likely going to die. In spite of everything, she knew he cared for her in his own strange way.

All of her Shadows appeared beside her. "Don't be sad. Please don't. We will tell you a story-the story of a little princess who is sent to another planet, away from a great war. For a long time she doesn't remember who she is, but then she finds her home," one of them said.

They really seemed to be developing into individuals, yet remaining a part of her … She listened to the story and slowly her eyelids drooped, her breathing calmed, and she slept.

Her seven Shadows sat around her in varying positions, guarding her. "The little princess Shadow Girl ," one murmured softly. "And one day she will be the Shadow Queen. But it is something we must forget, as it was not for us to know in the first place. For now, she knows nothing of her future or past, and it is better for her to dwell on the present. I wish she did not worry so about Rinec."

"He will be fine," another assured.

They all hoped so. If Rinec died, it would be a disaster. Either Naru would become very, very angry, go crazy and mad with grief, and blow everything up, or she would be very, very sad. If she were sad for too long, all her Shadows would begin to disappear, never seen again. Unless Naru were to realize she was a princess. The Shadow princess, though she and others would mistakenly believe her to be the princess of the Shadow People. She was of their blood, to be sure. But there was something else that she had that none of her kind ever would have, some quality they could never possess.

Rinec strode toward the guarded door, guns in hand and ready. He tried not to think of Naru in the other room, all alone. There were twelve guards. (Why should he care about her?) His mind would not let him forget her_. Because she cares about you, because you promised Perel and yourself you'd take care of her. Because she reminds you of your daughter, whom you weren't able to save_ whispered a voice in his mind.

"You there! Halt and state your business!" One of the grey figures at the door to the throne room held up a hand.

Rinec remembered that he was still wearing the Shadok armor and helmet. He smiled grimly, and started shooting. The bodies sank to the floor, ridden with bullet holes, and he slashed those in the neck who tried to rise. He pushed the huge door open and started shooting again, gun in first before he entered. He heard a few groans. He stepped in.

"Oh, hell."

There was no way out. At least sixty well-armed Shadok, weapons trained on him, surrounded him. Only two were dead. If he shot, he'd be dead, and they'd destroy Earth. And who knew? Perhaps now they knew he was here, they'd activate the bomb this very moment … he'd no idea whether they'd lifted off already or not.

"The famous Rinec … he has once again decided to grace us with his presence," Tsar's tone was full of sarcasm. "All my soldiers have been telling me how great you are at fighting, of your exploits and escapes from bounty hunters, your battles in the Hielnv stadium. So I am very surprised you decided to commit suicide by coming in here," he continued speaking as he slowly descended his throne, walked into the circle of grey around Rinec.

Rinec didn't move. Both men stared into one another's eyes, unblinking, studying. Tsar, who had never felt intimidated in his life, felt himself grow cold, staring into this other man's eyes, the icy, distant blue of them. He felt almost hypnotized-Rinec seemed so uncaring to anything that might happen to him. Tsar felt old, too old for the galaxy and time he lived in. He could go on pretending that he didn't care, just like Rinec, the difference was he did. He realized if they fought, if he didn't have him shot, their fight would have to be fast, hard, and brutal. He no longer had the endurance for a long, drawn out battle. But he wanted to pit his strength against Rinec's…

Rinec made the first move. Before anyone knew what was what, his knife imbedded itself in Tsar's arm. Tsar stared at it for a long moment, and then pulled it out. "No weapons but knives and our fists, Rinec. That's how our ancestors used to fight," he said.

A Shadok relieved Rinec of his guns before he could object. Tsar jumped him as his attention was diverted. Rinec got hold of his knife and stabbed Tsar with it. a Shadok tossed Tsar a knife, and they stabbed and punched and kicked, both soon covered in each other's blood, armor torn, as it was only leather.

Naru had woken and, not being able to bear not knowing what would happen to Rinec, was now crouching behind a railing on a balcony above, watching the fight, biting her lip nervously. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Usually Rinec's battles or fights were over in moments, although certainly less bloody. Perhaps he was conserving his strength to call it up at the last, desperate moment.

And hopefully most of the blood was Tsar's.


	8. Chapter 8

Tsar had his knife almost against Rinec's throat, but Rinec was pushing the knife away from him. Naru could see Rinec was tiring-how could he be? They'd been fighting for less than five minutes. She could also see he was going to give. He didn't even have enough strength to shove his knee into Tsar's stomach.

She was frightened at the thought which came to her not-so-childish mind, but she knew it was her only option. The only way that Earth and Rinec had a chance. She jumped from the balcony, leaping over the railing to the floor below, landing on her feet. "Please, leave him alone!" She cried to Tsar as she ran toward the fighting men, heart pounding as she pushed through the grey wall of Shadok.

She knew they could easily snap her neck or shoot her, stab her and it'd be over. There were too many of them for her Shadows to keep an eye on, as far as she knew. They didn't touch her--as far as _they_ knew, she could do nothing to prevent Rinec's death or hinder Tsar, who looked up and saw her. "I remember you," he said.

Close to tears, Naru understood suddenly, clearly, what she'd lost, what she had to do. "No you don't. I'm not who I was. I won't ever be that girl again."

Her Shadows were in her yet out of her, they made her stronger. She could feel her heart beating rapidly, her breaths quicken. She had to do it. She had to.

She did.

It didn't feel like her, the strange, purposeful, no longer scared girl that leaped at Tsar faster than even Shadok eyes could follow. It couldn't have been her, that eight year old girl who slammed her body into Tsar's, causing him to lose his grip on the knife and then she-but-not-she snatched a sword right out of a Shadok's hand and somehow, suddenly, Tsar's head had come off and he was dead. And she stood there, gripping a bloody sword.

"You have won. You are now our leader. What would you have us do?" She became aware again of the world around her, heard a Shadok voice speak.

"Recall the bomb. Do not destroy Earth." she replied, dropping the sword and looking at Rinec, who was slowly getting up. "And Rinec needs medical attention."

"I'm fine," he growled in reply, glaring at any Shadok who came too close. "I don't need any help."

Two hours later, Earth was swarming with Shadok who were clearing the streets, taking care of the bodies, rebuilding and distributing food to survivors who dared come out of hiding and find that the Shadok were no longer killing, but helping.

And one lone girl was in a navigation room on a ship, looking at a holographic map of the galaxy. She heard Rinec enter the room and stand beside her.

"I know where my people are," she said.

A ship appeared above the horizon of a great planet, to an appointed place where the planet's natives waited, apprehensive, daring to hope, to dream. Wondering.

The ship drew closer and seemed to grow bigger and bigger, until finally it landed. Two figures exited first, a man and a girl, both dwarfed by the size of the ship.

A woman stepped forward out of the crowd.

"I am Naru, a Shadow Girl," the girl introduced herself, looking around her at all the people. "And I am you Queen, too, I think."

"Welcome home, your Highness," the woman greeted her, giving notice to the figure behind Naru, clad in black and arms crossed. "Who is he, may I ask?"

Naru laughed. She hadn't laughed in a long time, and it felt wonderful. "He is my papa," she answered.

The man actually grinned. "Now don't go flaunting that fact, kid. People around here will get pretty envious."

Slowly, Rinec was making his way back into the world of humanity. Still, being the way he had been for a long time, he wasn't going to broadcast it or change overnight.

At least, he wouldn't mention it when the kid was around. Didn't want her getting a big head, knowing she'd a hand in his being a little 'softer.' _Bloody kid, reminds me too much of Leana sometimes._

"Some things never change," Naru sighed in mock sadness.

"You got that right, kid."

TO BE CONTINUED…


End file.
